Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Top Angus official rejects claim new £66.5m Monifieth High will leave other schools to ‘make do and mend’

Radical ideas around future education in Arbroath and Montrose have been dropped because of pressures including the spiralling cost of a new secondary in Monifieth.

How the new Monifieth High School will look.
How the new Monifieth High School will look. Image: NORR architects

Other Angus schools will not be forced into a ‘make do and mend’ situation by the budget-busting cost of building a new Monifieth High.

That was the firm message from authority depute chief executive Mark Armstrong as councillors signalled the death knell for major projects in other burghs because of the soaring bill for the 1,200-pupil south Angus secondary.

However, the council has admitted axing plans for a possible Arbroath ‘super-school’ and the Reimagining Montrose scheme will not actually save any money.

Schools for the future programme

Both ideas were part of the Angus Schools for the Future 30-year vision.

But what was described by education director Kelly McIntosh as a “significantly changed” financial landscape has led to them being scrubbed.

The cost of Monifieth High has jumped more than £15m from a 2020 estimate.

New Monifieth High School designs.
Work on the new Monifieth High School is due to start soon. Image: NORR architects

It means any uncommitted cash has been directed towards the long-awaited community school project.

Amendment rejected

Forfar Conservative councillor Ross Greig failed in a bid to keep the Arbroath and Montrose projects on the table.

SNP education convener Lynne Devine threw out a proposed amendment from Mr Greig.

He said: “While I agree the council is under enormous financial pressure, if this committee was to approve the removal of the Arbroath project and Montrose Reimagined, then realistically how long is the rest of our school estate going to have to make do and mend?”

Mr Armstrong responded: “I would disagree with the comment about make do and mend.

“I think Angus has, across its entire estate, a very high quality learning environment.

“The Arbroath project and Montrose project were in as markers in the capital programme.

“They were below the line, indications of projects which, should it be feasible and affordable, the council would wish to take forward in the future.

Arbroath High School will not be merging into a super-school with the town's Academy.
A joint campus for Arbroath High School and Arbroath Academy was part of the Schools for the Future vision.

“The sums allocated to those projects were nowhere near what was required…and would have required investment from the Scottish Government as we’re getting in relation to the Monifieth project.

“I don’t think there was ever any real, detailed intent unless we would be confident we could fully fund and deliver those projects.

“Clearly for the foreseeable future…that is going to be a challenge.

“Or focus needs to be on the delivery of the programme as it exists and then monitoring it over subsequent years to see what it is realistic to improve on.”

Councillors agreed to drop the Arbroath Secondary Schools and Reimagining Montrose projects from Schools for the Future.

Mr Greig recorded his dissent on that matter.

Opposition leader Derek Wann said: “It’s exploration we’re speaking about.

“I don’t see why we can’t back an amendment because there is no financial cost.”

Conversation